Security systems are widely used to protect property and provide personal safety. Security systems generally include a control unit that controls the overall operation of the system, one or more keypads providing user access to the system, and various detectors and sensors.
Security systems may generate an alarm in response to any number of events, such unauthorized entry, fire, medical emergency or manual alarm activation. The security system may be associated with a service that remotely monitors the status of the security system. Thus, if the security system generates an alarm, a notification signal may be transmitted via a wired and/or wireless communications link to a monitoring system. Upon receiving the notification, security service personnel for the monitoring system may attempt to contact the property owner or other party at the facility to verify the alarm. If it is appropriate to do so, a security service representative may, upon confirmation of the alarm, contact an emergency response agency such as the police department, the fire department, an emergency medical team, or other appropriate entity.
Security systems are also playing a larger role in building automation, and may include a control unit that provides building automation features. At the same time, more and more devices are provided with microprocessors and the ability to communicate information to other devices. For example, appliances, entertainment devices (such as televisions and DVD/BLU-RAY™ players), lighting controllers, and other devices may be equipped with processors and communications devices. As a result, the control unit of the security system may communicate with the security sensors, and also communicate with numerous other devices through either wired or wireless connections.
The abundance of devices using processors also comes with additional complications. Most of these devices implement some form of firmware that contains the program code and data used in operation of the device. It can be a notoriously difficult and laborious process to download and install updates to the firmware on the relevant devices. This complication is only growing as the number of devices with firmware installed increases. As a result, many consumers do not update the firmware on many of their devices and forgo the benefits associated with the updates.